The Mint Report for 11 May 2011

The Supreme Court has clarified the implications of its landmark 1996 judgment in the Bhopal gas disaster. On Wednesday it said that 15-year old decision should not have prevented a lower court from increasing the charges against those convicted. The Supreme Court then dismissed a curative petition from the CBI that asked for tougher sentences. Back in June of last year, a court in Bhopal had sentenced seven people to two years of imprisonment for their role in the Bhopal disaster.

Coal India could soon secure a long-term fuel supply. The company says it’s likely to fix a 10-year tender for importing thermal coal. It has released a tender for the coal that’ll be open for three weeks. Coal India had planned to import four million tonnes over the last fiscal, but actually failed to bring in any coal. During that same period extracted 431 million tonnes of coal from its own assets.

Indian markets bounded back on Wednesday, encouraged by gains in global markets. The Sensex jumped 72 points to 18,585. And the Nifty climbed 24 to 5,565.